


When All Else Fails, Improvise

by Seito



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Gen, Genre Savvy, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-04-09 11:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4346486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seito/pseuds/Seito
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All things considered, I was coping pretty well ever since I landed in San Fransokyo, you know, the fictional city from Disney's Big Hero 6 Movie. Coping all the way, until my boss's youngest nephew, one Hiro Hamada, told me he was entering SFIT's Showcase. Fuck my life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Haruka, we can close up early today."

A young woman with black hair stuck her head into the kitchen, confusion on her face. "Close up early up, Cass?" she asked in disbelief. "But it's beat poetry night?"

Outside in Lucky Cat Cafe was a poet giving a whimsical performance on the importance of bacon. The crowd engrossed in the performance, hanging onto every word. It was one of the few times the cafe was packed at this time of night.

Cass gave her employee a tired smile. "It seems my nephews got themselves arrested and I have to go bail them out. I don't want you end up cleaning all this by yourself. So after we finish cleaning, I'll go pick them up. The boys can sit and think about what they've done in the meantime."

Haruka blinked. "I don't mind, cleaning up by myself that is. You can go pick them up," she said. It wasn't like cleaning was hard. Sure, it would take longer by herself, but Haruka had been helping clean the cafe for over two years now. It wasn't a difficult task.

Cass gave Haruka an expectant look. "Are you sure?"

Haruka nodded. "We're only gonna be open for another hour anyways. By the time you get back, I'll probably be done." There was no point to close early on one of the busiest nights of the week. That would just hurt the business in the long run.

Cass let out a huff. She crossed her arms across her chest; a mix of irritation and bemusement playing on her face. "I should make the boys clean. I can't believe they got arrested. What on earth were they doing?"

"Stupid boy stuff?" Haruka offered. If it was one thing Haruka had come to learn, it was trouble followed the Hamada brothers like a lost puppy. Frankly, Haruka was surprised it only took until now for them to get arrested.

Cass snorted. She hung up her apron on one of the wooden hooks behind the counter and grabbed her purse and keys. "They're walking geniuses, those two, but sometimes it's like they lack common sense. I'll be back, Haruka. Throw out anyone who gives you trouble!"

Haruka gave a salute. "Aye Aye ma'am!"

xXxXx

Hi. I'm Haruka. Look, I'm not going to bore you with silly information on who I am, what my favorite color, or if my eyes are some multi-shade rainbow hue color (they're not). I actually remember being in your shoes okay? In fact, if you skip over this part of the story, I'm not gonna be offended.

The important thing to know is that two years ago, I was living in San Fran _cisco_ and not San Fran _sokyo_.

It was a couple months after my college graduation (which I worked my butt off for my degree, I just didn't have a job yet) when Disney had just released a certain movie called Big Hero 6. I saw said movie with friends and may have just a teeny tiny bit gotten a little obsessed with it. If I bought a bunch of BH6 merchandise and those curse damn tsum tsums, that was between myself and my wallet okay?

Anyways, I was driving home after having Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' place when, well, I'm not sure what happened other than a bright flash of light and I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder and asking if I was alright.

Finding out that someone looked exactly like (younger) Hiro Hamada well, I may have freaked. A lot.

After a lot of yelling and panicking and several espresso shots, I calmed down and tried to wrap my head around the idea that somehow I traveled to a completely different universe. More specifically to the backyard of Lucky Cat Cafe/Hamada Household. Ya… it was not a fun experience.

Now skipping through some more useless information, the bottom line came down to, was when she figured out that I didn't have anywhere to go, didn't have any money on me, Cass gave me a job as a cashier/waitress in the cafe and let me crash on their couch for six months. (After six months, I have enough saved to rent out a very cheap studio a couple blocks away).

So I was coping. It was a new universe and I clearly had no way of going back to my old one.

When life gave you lemons, you made lemonade. Cass was a lifesaver, the closest thing I had to a mother since mines was 'misplace' and Tadashi and Hiro were cute, annoying siblings (I really miss my own siblings).

All was well… until this happened.

xXxXx

"Haruka!"

Haruka placed down the mug she had been wiping as Hiro came bouncing down the stairs into the empty cafe. The cafe wouldn't open for another twenty minutes, but Haruka was always in two hours earlier to help Cass open. Well, that and Cass insisted on feeding Haruka breakfast and who was she to turn down Cass' awesome food?

Haruka felt an amused smile twitch onto her face. "Hiro," she greeted, leaning over the counter. "I heard you got arrested last night. Out bot fighting again?"

"I beat the guy," Hiro said, flashing that brilliant grin. He all but vibrated with energy in front of her.

Haruka shook her head. Such an adrenaline junkie, this young one. It wouldn't be Hiro though if he wasn't getting into trouble. Thankfully Tadashi was there to haul his baby brother out messes. "You're going to give your aunt gray hairs, if you haven't already. You really ought to use that big brain of yours for something good."

Hiro gave her a look, eyebrows arched. "Tadashi said something similar last night."

Oops. Right, two years later and she was still quoting things from a movie that doesn't exist.

Hiro continued onward, ignoring Haruka's sheepish expression. "But I promise, I am. Tadashi showed me his nerd school, which turned out to be kinda cool. Professor Callaghan teaches there too! Why didn't Tadashi tell me that? I would have signed up for classes in a heartbeat. But first I gotta get into that school. Tadashi said if I can impress Professor Callaghan at the SFIT Showcase, I'm in. Speaking of which, I should get back upstairs. I'm gonna need a really impressive idea. Just wanted to say hi!"

Haruka blinked, stunned. She didn't get a chance to say anything before Hiro bounced back upstairs. Did… Did Hiro just say what she thought he said? No, no, no. Not the SFIT Showcase.

xXxXx

Well, fuck my life.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, okay. Don't panic Haruka. I mean just because San Fransokyo started off as a fictional place to me doesn't mean the same thing is going to happen in this universe right? Right?!

Oh, who am I kidding? Cass said her nephews got arrested on beat poetry night! Wasn't that how the movie started? Then Tadashi finally conned Hiro into seeing his school and convincing Hiro to go to college like he had been trying ALL YEAR LONG.

Fuck.

Deep breaths. The last thing I need is an anxiety attack. Okay, so it had been two years and while I don't exactly recall all the minor scenes and details, I do remember the most important thing about SFIT Showcase scene of the movie. Tadashi's death.

lSKDjflkjsdf!

I need a strong cup of coffee.

Alright, okay. One cup of coffee brewed. Nerves are a bit more calm. First question, what am I going to do?

There was a small possibility that oh, it might not turn out like the movie. Just because Hiro and Tadashi got arrested on beat poetry night and Tadashi finally convinced Hiro to try getting into SFIT didn't mean it was going to end in flames, death and sorrow. Sure, it could, but there are a million and one things that could go differently, like what if Hiro's project wasn't microbots? Or if Tadashi actually had the common sense NOT to run into a burning building?

Do I even need to do anything?

Like, okay, Tadashi died in the movie. That was sad and I was bawling in the theater. But… But it was Hiro's coming of age story. His growth, the bond between him and Baymax, the birth of Big Hero 6. It was also the stopping of Professor Callaghan/Yokai and well, the saving of Abigail.

If… what if everything went the same as the movie, but the only difference is that I save Tadashi. That meant, Hiro won't grow out of his brother's shadow, won't bond with the rest of the team, won't become the hero he is suppose to be. It meant no one won't know about Professor Callaghan's plan until it was too late. Abigail will probably never get rescued either.

Of course on the flip side, it did mean instead of Baymax, Hiro would have Tadashi by his side and maybe, just maybe things will turn out the same way? The brothers could still discover Professor Callaghan's plot, could still become heroes and….

Sigh.

There were too many variables and I'm not a 'main character'. Even if I want to change things, I'm nowhere near the center of the storm to be an influence. Cass was my boss, and at best I'm a family friend to Hiro and Tadashi. What could I do?

Or perhaps the question I should be asking myself was could I stand by and watch, no matter how little or strong a possibility, Tadashi's death? If as a fictional character, Tadashi's death wrecked me, could I stand by now I've seen Tadashi through his first day of college, Hiro's high school graduation, birthdays, Christmases, listened to Cass proudly boast about her nephews and are as real to me as one can get?

Hell no.

This wasn't a fictional story anymore. (I think. I'm not going to have an identity crisis as to whether I'm at the mercy of some fangirl's writing. You might as well kill me.) These were real people and no matter how much I want to throw the Hamada brothers out a window (I stand by my original defense in the Orange Cupcake fiasco, as I was not involved how come I had to clean?), they are real to me as the sun in the sky and I care about them too much to let even the slightest possibility come to harm them.

Of course, none of that answered the original question.

What am I going to do?

xXxXx

"You okay Haruka?"

Haruka snapped out of her dark thoughts. "Ah, Tadashi," she greeted. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

The oldest Hamada brother chuckled. "Because you've been cleaning that mug for the last five minutes?"

Haruka looked down at the white cup in her hands. "Oh, right," she said, setting the cup down on the counter. She let out a tired sigh. Clearly the possibility of the future weighed heavily on her mind. She hadn't even noticed when Tadashi had came in. Not to mention the two new customers and the four the left. Daydreaming was a bad habit of hers; add in the dark future that lurked before her and it was a recipe of disaster waiting to happen. Haruka supposed she was lucky that nothing had happened while she was spacing out.

"You sure you're okay?" Tadashi asked. His voice laced with worry, a tone Haruka was all that familiar with, often hearing it directed at Hiro.

Hamadas were such mother-hens. Haruka let out a huff, remembering all the times Cass had cornered her into staying the night (or just outright feeding her). Food was good though. Cass' cooking beat any takeout Haruka could have gotten. Haruka didn't cook; no kitchen in her home and after burning cereal... yes, Haruka didn't cook.

"Of course," Haruka said with a smile. "Just some heavy thoughts."

Tadashi frowned, a serious expression displaying on his face. "You know you can always come and talk to us if you need anything right?"

"Us?" The word slipped out before Haruka could stop herself.

Tadashi nodded. "Us. Aunt Cass, Hiro or myself. You're practically family after all. If you need to move back onto our couch, a shoulder to cry on or just a listening ear, you can always come to us."

Hamadas were also beautiful cinnamon rolls too good for this world. Too pure. What did Haruka do to end up in the care of such a nice family?

A soft smile spread across Haruka's face. "Thank you, Tadashi."

xXxXx

New Objective: protect the Hamada Family at all cost.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the warm response! I was pretty much expecting everyone to ignore this so to hear from you guys is amazing. -sends hugs-


	3. Chapter 3

New Objective: protect the Hamada Family at all cost.

That was actually a lot harder than I thought. Starting off, WHAT DO I DO ABOUT IT?

Do I let things happen and just make sure to be present at the Showcase and should the fire start, tackle Tadashi before he even thought about entering a flaming building? That was cutting a bit close.

Kill Professor Callaghan?

Well, not kill. Seriously maim? Or… oh, I don't know knock him out with chloroform? I mean the materials to make chloroform are ridiculously easy to get. Just a quick trip to the hardware store.

Then again, what are the chances I could overpower someone who liked Professor Callaghan, who was not only taller than me but also pretty physically fit?

Maybe going back to 'Tackling Tadashi' plan might be my best idea.

xXxXx

"Haruka can you run this out to garage?" Cass said, handing over a tray full of food. "I'm pretty sure the kids are hungry and you know how they get when they're absorbed in a project."

"They forget to eat and sleep like normal humans?" Haruka joked as she took the tray from her boss.

Cass laughed. "Exactly. That's why it's up to us normal people to keep the geniuses fed and well rested."

"Aye, aye ma'am!"

Exiting out of the side door, Haruka walked into the open garage. The sound of laughter and chattered poured out. "I brought food!" Haruka announced, holding up the tray of food. A bright smile graced her face as she recognized the group of friends out there.

It fell quiet before Fred walked up to her and fell to his knees. "You are a wonderful, wonderful goddess," he said.

"Get off the ground, Fred," Gogo said.

"Thanks Haruka!" Hiro said, taking the tray from Haruka.

"No problem. Your aunt did all the cooking. I'm just the delivery girl," Haruka said. She peered at the two blue trash bins that now stood in the garage. "Looks like your project is coming along nicely. Wanna give me a quick demonstration?"

"It'll be a good test run," Honey Lemon said.

Hiro nodded and grabbed his neurotransmitter, placing the silver band on his head. "Hi. My name is Hiro Hamada. This is a microbot." He pulled out one of his black microbots from the bin. "It doesn't look like much, but when it links up with the rest of its pals... "

Haruka took a step back as the bins started vibrating and swelling. It would be impressive to see this in person, in 'real life'.

The black microbots swarmed together forming a small two foot by two foot by two foot rectangle.

"Things get a little more interesting," Hiro continued. "The microbots are controlled by this neurotransmitter." Hiro pulled the band off his head and they fell apart to pieces. Placing the neurotransmitter back on his head, the microbots reformed into the rectangle.

"I think what I want them to do, they do it." A tiny miniature replica of Lucky Cat Cafe formed.

Hiro stopped. "I haven't thought much after that," he said, pulling off the neurotransmitter off his head. Looking at Haruka he smiled. "What do you think?"

Haruka grinned back. "That was awesome. Amazing! You're sure to impress the judges at the Showcase."

"Told you," Tadashi said proudly, playfully nudging his brother.

"Hiro's going to have no problem getting in," Wasabi said.

"What kind of security did you put in it?" Haruka asked.

"Security?" Hiro echoed.

"Security. I mean this some pretty revolutionary tech. What if someone came in stole some of your microbots. The garage isn't the most secure place," Haruka asked. She picked up the silver band and turned it over in her hands. This tiny piece of technology was going to change the world, in both good and bad ways. "I mean does the neurotransmitter have a biometric lock keyed only to you Hiro? Do your microbots have GPS trackers in them?"

"That's some pretty high paranoia, Haruka," Hiro said skeptically.

"Sounds like a good idea," Gogo said. "Never hurts to be prepared."

"Mochi, South Mall, and a certain hysterical preteen," Haruka calmly pointed out. About a month and half after Haruka had arrived, Hiro had come to her that he had lost Mochi in the mall. They had come to the mall for some grocery shopping and Hiro had insisted on bringing Mochi with them. They spent over three hours tracking down the missing pet before security called them to tell them they had found Mochi curled up in a basket of yarn in the arts and craft store.

If Mochi now walked around with a GPS tracker in his collar, well...

Hiro flushed. "You promised to never bring that up again!"

"What is this about Mochi?" Tadashi asked, curious.

"This sounds like a good story!" Fred said.

"There is no story!" Hiro protested.

Tadashi poked Hiro. "Tell me."

"It's nothing!" Hiro swatted Tadashi's hand away. He turned back to Haruka. "I'll put a biometric lock on the neurotransmitter. I can call back any missing microbot and anyone would be hard pressed to replicate the microbot without the neurotransmitter."

Haruka smiled. "I gotta get back. Keep up the good work guys!"

xXxXx

So maybe I can't take out Professor Callaghan. I could make it much harder for him to use Hiro's tech though.

Take that!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are amazing. (´∀｀) Thank you so much.


	4. Chapter 4

Are you nervous? I'm nervous. Standing before me was the large building that hosted the SFIT Showcase. Today I will either succeed or fail. The goal was simple, keep Hiro and Tadashi as far away from any burning buildings. I'm not an idiot. Tadashi may have died in the original Disney movie, but do you know how many fanfic writers wrote the opposite happening to _Hiro_ instead? I'm not taking any chances. Keep both Hamada brothers far, far, far away from any burning buildings.

If I managed to stop Callaghan in the process, bonus! Otherwise, let the man drown in his revenge.

xXxXx

"Impressive, no?" Cass said.

"Yeah," Haruka said, staring at the displays. Peoples bustled around them, wandering from presentation to presentation. "It's kinda amazing the kind of things people come up with."

It was hard for Haruka to say if her old universe was just… limited by stricter laws of physics or if genius truly meant genius here. She had attended a science fair during her college days and all the displays there were mostly theoretical and often inherited from students before them. Not many people had a working prototype to show off and certainly not everyone.

There were robots and then were _robots_.

70% of the battle bots (battle bots that normal common people made!) were more sophisticated than any robot Haruka had heard of back home.

Then were Hiro's microbots.

Haruka couldn't even imagine how long it would take someone back home to make microbots, yet here, Hiro did it in a few short weeks. It was staggering. Nothing short of amazing could describe the sheer awe Haruka felt looking at the displays.

"It's good to see you smile so freely. It's been missing for a while," Cass remarked. "You know you can come to me if you have a problem right?"

Haruka flinched. "Am I that obvious?"

Cass laid a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "You've been distressed by something for the past couple weeks. What has you so worried?"

' _That after today you're going to lose one of your nephews,_ ' Haruka thought to herself. She looked at where the gang was talking to Callaghan and Krei. No doubt, Krei was doing his shady thing, the red herring in the film and Callaghan had just given Hiro his acceptance letter.

"Something about today is making me uneasy," Haruka said lightly. "Like something bad is going to happen."

Cass looked at her sharply. "What?"

Haruka just gave her a tight smile as Hiro came rushing over.

"Aunt Cass! I got in!" Hiro said excitedly, waving his acceptance letter.

"That's great!" Cass said, pulling her youngest nephew into a hug.

"Don't forget your neurotransmitter," Haruka said, pointing to the silver band that laid on the stage, forgotten in the excitement.

"Oh right! Thanks Haruka," Hiro said, running back to the stage to snatch it up.

"Alright geniuses," Cass said. "Let's feed those hungry brains. Back to the cafe! Dinner is on me!"

The gang let out a cheer.

"Free food!" Fred said.

Haruka waved her hand. "I'll catch up. There's this one last display I want to see."

"Us too," Tadashi said, catching Hiro's attention.

Cass nodded, giving her nephews another large hug. "I'm so proud of you! Both of you!"

"Thanks Aunt Cass," they chorused together.

Cass then turned and pulled Haruka into a hug. "You'll be okay?" she whispered into Haruka's ear.

"Yeah. I'll be fine," Haruka said, squeezing back. Hugs were great. The hardest part about being in a new universe was being separated from her family. Haruka hadn't been getting her daily dosage of hugs in the last two years. But in her own way, without even knowing it, Cass never failed to make a dent in necessary hug giving.

"Five minutes!" Cass said, pulling away and looking at her favorite employee and nephews. "I expect you see you back at the truck in five minutes."

"Yes, Aunt Cass."

"Aye Aye ma'am."

Haruka watched her boss and the future heroes headed off in one direction and her favorite Hamada bros headed toward the bridge. She took a seat on the bench just outside of the building. Nothing to do but to wait. She closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

With the neurotransmitter back in Hiro's hands, would Callaghan still start the fire? Perhaps the man was smart enough to reverse engineer the microbots without the neurotransmitter. He was suppose to be the leading expert in robotics. Not to mention he probably needed to fake his death to provide a strong alibi.

Behind her the building exploded in flames.

xXxXx

Shit!


	5. Chapter 5

Ever heard of the saying 'the more things change, the more things stay the same'? If it was one thing I learned coming to this universe was things changed, but at the core they were the same. For example, Disney didn't exist in this universe, but Dreamworks did. If Disneyland was Dreamland and How To Train Your Dragon 2 just won Jimmy's (Oscars equivalent), well more proof. Elvis Presley was not the King of Rock but Princella Presley was the Queen of Rock. They were subtle differences, but at the same time they weren't.

But at the same time, Michael Jackson and Obama were all things that didn't change.

Different but not.

Same but not.

There was a point here. Focus Haruka.

Oh right.

So good news! I kinda succeeded? Both Tadashi and Hiro are alive. Yay! (The 'Tackling the Hamada Bros as they approached the building' plan really was my best bet.)

Bad news, I got a broken arm, Tadashi has a concussion and a broken leg and Hiro is in a coma.

And somewhere… two deaths confirmed in the fire, one being Professor Callaghan, the other a student that Honey Lemon knew.

I should feel bad, but I don't. What kind of person does that make me?

xXxXx

"Haruka?"

"Hi Cass," Haruka said tiredly. Everything hurt. She wanted to just sleep the night away, but every time she closed her eyes, the fire caused her to wake. Great, if she formed PTSD after this, someone was going to get hurt because damnit, her life was not meant to be a superhero action movie. (The irony of her situation did not make her feel any better.)

"How are you feeling?" Cass asked.

Haruka waved her arm that was in a bright blue cast. "Well, this is the first time I had my arm broken and definitely won't be cleaning any time soon, but hey, I'm alive, you're okay and so are Hiro and Tadashi, can't really ask for more. Sleep would be nice, but it'll come eventually. Plus, they're going to discharge me soon, enough time to make it home and sleep and not show up sleep deprived to work."

Cass looked at her in shock. "Haruka you don't have to go to work tomorrow."

Haruka nodded. "I know. But I'm one of three full time employees you have hired. None of the part timers are coming in and you are definitely not coming into work tomorrow. Absolutely not. John only cooks and if we leave poor Sakura to make drinks, wait, clean and run the cashier, there will be chaos. So I'll show up, run the cashier, wipe the tables and help where I can."

"Haruka…" Cass said, worried.

"You're paying for my health insurance," Haruka said. "And I'm not going to pull you away from Hiro's or Tadashi's bedside!" She gave Cass her best stubborn look. This was not something she was going to be swayed on.

"Ms. Kikou?" a nurse called out, entering the room.

"That's me," Haruka chirped.

"Here are your discharge papers," the nurse said, handing over the papers. "I have your stuff here."

"Thank you!" Haruka said with a smile.

Looking back at Cass, Haruka said, "Want me to take anything back to the cafe? I assume you're going to be camping here."

Cass gestured to the bag sitting on the chair. "Just some stuff that Hiro and Tadashi had." She frowned. "Are you sure you're okay to work tomorrow, Haruka? We can just call in the part timers."

Haruka smiled and waved dismissively. "I'm sure, Cass. It'll be fine." She heaved the bag over her shoulder. "Take care of the boys and get some rest yourself."

Cass pulled her into a hug. "You take care too. I'll see you later."

Haruka beamed. "Aye aye ma'am."

xXxXx

Haruka dumped the bag of both her and the boys' stuff onto her bed. As suspected, the neurotransmitter sat in Hiro's bag. Haruka sighed, picking it up.

What to do with this little device?

While she was certain that Hiro did go the extra precautionary step to put in the security, how trustworthy was it? Would it be better to simply crush the headband? After all, if it was broken into thousands of little pieces, wouldn't that be better than leaving it to chance that Callaghan could break the security protocols?

… Could she destroy something that Hiro worked so hard on?

Stop the evil madman or protect Hiro's invention?

…

Hiro was going to hate her.

Haruka set the headband on the ground and crushed it. It broke, splintering apart into pieces. She pulled at it, tearing the wires and dismantling it as thoroughly as she could. Until the rescue teams pulled Callaghan's body (and properly identified it as him), Haruka wasn't going to take the chance.

She stared at the broken pieces of the headband and sank down to the edge of her bed. Smiling sardonically, Haruka let out a bitter laugh.

"I'm such a terrible person."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we diverge from the movie. owo b Please leave a comment on your way out.


	6. Chapter 6

They say hindsight is 20/20.

I say my life is a drama and apparently I must be at the mercy of some fangirl's writing because there is no fucking way this should have happened to me.

My house was fire.

I had been coming home from work; it had been nine days since the SFIT accident. Tadashi had been discharged, but Hiro had yet to wake up. Both Tadashi and Cass haven't exactly left the hospital and I took it upon myself to make sure the cafe was running. So it was ten at night and I was on my way home…

Only to arrive to find out my house was on fire.

This bears repeating.

My. House. Was. On. Fire.

My tiny 500 square foot apartment was on fire.

What did I do to deserve this?!

xXxXx

"Ma'am?"

Haruka barely registered the kindly EMT addressing her. Instead, she stared, jaw slackened, at the burning building. "My house," she dimly said.

The EMT wrapped a shock blanket around her, lowering to the ground to take a seat. "Did you live in this apartment building, ma'am?"

Haruka nodded faintly. Her grip on her bag tightened as her head spun. Boom! Just like that, she had once again lost everything. What merger things she had bought for herself, the blanket Cass had given her for Christmas, the alarm clock the Hamada brothers build her for her birthday, everything gone in a puff of smoke. Once more she had been reduced to nothing but the clothes on her back.

Hysteria bubbled inside of her. The only difference between this and her original arrival was that she still had her purse. Which meant she still had identification because finding someone to hack into a government database to forge her birthday certificate and a driver's license was something she didn't want to visit again. Thank god she managed to finally open a bank account a year ago or all of her savings would be up in smoke too.

Oh god.

Haruka welded her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears. She couldn't deal with this. Her house was on fire. Honest to god on fire. She was going to develop a phobia of fire at this rate.

"Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" the EMT asked.

Haruka shook her head, feeling isolated and alone. What family did she have? She was alone in a universe that wasn't hers and there was no way she was going to go back to imposing on the Hamadas. Her list of friends didn't exactly extend past the Hamada family and her co-workers. Haruka arrived with nothing in this universe and to save what little money she made (what money didn't go to bills and basic necessities like enough clothes to last the week, even a toothbrush!) she was working constantly. Haruka loved Cass; she honestly did, but given that Haruka started off with practically nothing, minimum wage wasn't exactly enough to live off of.

Oh god. What was she going to do?!

"-name is Haruka? Thank you. She's in a state of shock, ma'am. Said she had nowhere to go. The fire is still going pretty strong. The entire building has been compromised. They don't know what started it yet. No one was too badly injured. We managed to rescue everyone. Yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am."

Haruka began to recognize that the EMT had taken her cellphone and was talking to someone. Much later, she was engulfed in a warm hug and was led away from the scene by someone.

"Haruka, it's Cass. You'll come home with me tonight, okay?"

Numbly nodding, Haruka compiled without much of a fight. She found herself ushered into Cass's bed, wrapped in a fluffy blanket and proceeded to pass out the minute her head hit the pillow.

Maybe when she woke up tomorrow this would be nothing but a bad dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't make it too easy for Haruka. :P


	7. Chapter 7

It wasn't a bad dream.

A nightmare would be appropriate.

Especially since I found out someone purposely started that fire in my apartment. Like I said, hindsight was 20/20. So Callaghan noticed that I took the headband, raided my apartment, probably found the broken pieces that I wrapped in a pillowcase and dumped into a box and hide at the farthest corner under my bed. Then set it on fire, either in frustration or to cover his tracks.

Either way, he probably had the parts (thank god I broke it) and god knows how long it'll take him to reverse engineer it. For as talented as Hiro is, Callaghan was not the father of robotics for nothing. He earned this position. Maybe I can't stop his plot from unfolding… but at least I stalled it for much longer.

Still. What am I gonna do?

xXxXx

Haruka sat at the Hamada kitchen table, hands curled around a cup of tea. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed heavily. It had been two weeks since her apartment had burned down and Cass had refused to take no for an answer. So once again, Haruka found herself on the couch in the Hamada Household.

She had carried through the motions of every day on autopilot, numb and still in shock at the whole thing. Vaguely, she registered Cass and Tadashi's worried glances at her, her co-workers repeated similar motions as the days carried.

' _How is this my life?'_ she whined in her head. Being a supporting character was exhausting. It was childish and petty, but she argued she had suffered a shock that most people don't their entire lives. She was allowed to wallow in pity and complain about her situation.

No. That wasn't true. That would make her the child she was acting as.

Haruka took a deep breath once more, and forced herself to focus. There was no use in crying over spilled milk. What was done was done. Her apartment was gone and nothing could be done about it. She simply just had to make do with what life had thrown her way and improvise. Thankfully, Haruka was very good at improvising.

'Alright,' she thought to herself. 'Things are changing, I can't rely on the movie anymore. Well, I could, maybe. If Callaghan really is behind this, then he should still be going for the portal remains and rebuilding it. Breaking the headband should give me some time, but not a whole lot. The man was a robotics genius. Just because Hiro is brilliant, doesn't mean he is the only one and it'll probably be easier because he has all the parts and just needs to recreate it.'

Haruka stared into her cup of tea. 'I also have to consider that Callaghan is not the one behind this. After all, I have yet to see Yokai anywhere, which is not surprising seeing as he's trying to hide. But there was another student in the fire and if Callaghan pulled it off in the movie, the student could do the same. Or they could be working together. Or it really was an unconnected incident and I'm seeing monsters because I expect to, but I highly doubt it,' she thought. 'For simplicity's sake, let's assume it is Callaghan until proved otherwise.'

Haruka drowned the cup of tea down and reached for the pot to pour her another one. She ignored the way her hands trembled. Focus. Focus. 'What do I do?' she asked herself. 'After all, I'm not very strong, physically. It isn't like I can go around stopping Callaghan. But… I can't exactly rely on the Nerd Crew to stop him. Hiro is still in a coma and well… frankly Tadashi is still alive and they don't exactly have a reason for teaming up.'

She hummed, pondering that. Well, it wasn't like Tadashi was the only reason why they teamed up in the first place. It was no doubt the reason why they stuck closer to Hiro, watching out for him in Tadashi's. But, Hiro only came across Callaghan's plan practically by accident. If he didn't have that extra microbot, if Baymax didn't seek out where the microbot was going. So many what-ifs and maybes that the story had relied on.

Outside of the fact that it was a warehouse, Haruka had no idea where to find the warehouse within the city. She didn't exactly remember how Hiro had gotten there in the movie, if the movie had even shown it.

'I guess I'll just have to improvise as it gets thrown at me,' she thought glumly. There was truly nothing else she could do about the situation.

"Haruka!" Tadashi rushed into the room.

Haruka looked up to see Tadashi the most animated since the SFIT Fire. His eyes practically sparkled and he bounced on his feet, grinning like a madman.

"What?" Haruka asked, bemused by his behavior.

"Hiro's awake!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Things… have been hectic. Hiro was given a clean bill of health and was released from the hospital. Tadashi's cast finally came off too. There was enough good cheer and celebration, I um... forgot about Callaghan.

I mean, there was so much to do! I had to find a new apartment. There were still therapy sessions that Cass was making her boys (and me) attend. Hiro restored the life and energy to the Hamada Household. Life continued on, surging with new energy. Hiro had already registered for his Spring Classes (Fall Semester had all been canceled due to the disaster of SFIT Showcase and the number of students suffering from the fallout). The brothers were smiling and laughing, the Nerd Crew over every day. It was nice, seeing the friendship form and fall into easy camaraderie.

It was easy to pretend that everything was alright and there wasn't a possibly madman loose on the run.

Which was why it came back to me just in time to see Tadashi, Hiro and Baymax jump out of the second story warehouse building.

Follow by a swarm of microbots.

Fuck my life.

xXxXx

"Tadashi and Hiro Hamada! WHAT IS GOING ON!" Haruka snapped. Inwardly, she vaguely knew what was going on and was panicking. Right, she was currently living in a movie and had stupidly dropped her guard down. That sort thing was what normally got people killed!

"Hi Haruka," Hiro said, dragging Baymax off the ground.

"Not now, Haruka," Tadashi said, grabbing her hand and dragging her away.

Running with them, glass crunching beneath their shoes, Haruka turned to look over her shoulder. "Please tell me that was not your microbot, Hiro," Haruka pleaded. She hoped that maybe, just maybe, she was completely wrong about this being exactly like the movie.

They skidded around the corner, sliding to a stop. Tadashi peered around the wall, checking to see if the swarm was still following them. It didn't look like it.

"They are," Hiro said grimly. "I don't know how or who is making them, but they stole my invention."

"Hello, I am Baymax," Baymax introduced himself to Haruka.

"H-Hi Baymax," Haruka weakly said. Oh god. This was really happening to her. It was one thing to prevent Tadashi's death, but here she was actually getting pulled into the movie plot. 'I miss my normal boring life,' she mentally wailed.

"We need to report this to the police," Tadashi said.

Haruka let out a bitter laugh, already knowing that wasn't going to go well at all.

Which was exactly why they were sitting in the Hamada Household's kitchen after running away from the police officer that clearly didn't believe them.

"So let me get this straight," Haruka said; her lips pressed thin into a frown. "You noticed, or rather Baymax noticed that Hiro's Microbot had wanted to go in a certain direction. And absentmindedly, you sent him off to look for it, only to realize your mistake and chase after him. After which, you found a suspicious looking warehouse and decided to check it, only to find out someone has been mass producing Hiro's microbots for no reason?!" At the end of her rant, her voice had a slightly shrill edge to it.

At least, thankfully, the Hamada brothers looked like they were suitably chastised.

Haruka pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling the headache. Mentally she was kicking herself for forgetting all about the warehouse and Callaghan.

"I just don't understand how they got it to work," Hiro said. "You said the headband was destroyed when your house caught on fire and all the microbots should have been destroyed in the SFIT Showcase fire. How could anyone have gotten my invention?"

"Right," Haruka said, thankful for once that the fire could… let her get away with her white lie. Which, if this was a movie, was going to come out at the worst moment possible so it may actually be in her best interest to inform Hiro about it sooner than later.

"So now what?" Tadashi asked. "The police didn't believe us when we told them about it."

"We have to stop them!" Hiro said.

"No," Tadashi and Haruka chorused together.

"It's too dangerous," Tadashi said.

"But!" Hiro protested.

"I already nearly lost you once, Hiro," Tadashi said quietly. "No. We'll go back to convince the police, but this isn't something I want you to get hurt doing."

Haruka frowned. Despite Tadashi's words… chances were, Hiro was destined to be a hero. She shifted, uneasy.

The future loomed dark and dangerous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays. owo b

**Author's Note:**

> If you made it this far, thanks for stopping in to read. This is purely a self indulgent fic that was pretty much just bugging me until I sat down to write it. Whether I bother to post the rest of what I have, depends if you guys even like this story. **So tell me what you think?** I know this type of story OC-centric is probably one of the most hated type in fandoms (and fandom has gotten quiet in my opinion probably because the movie has been out for a while).
> 
> If you're worried about what kind of OC Haruka is going to be, I can tell you she's not here to be a love interest to anyone or a replacement sibling to the Hamada bros, or to join the team. In many ways, this is still Hiro's (and Tadashi's) story and Haruka the casual observer who is a little genre-savvy and will try to influence what she can. Outside of our BH6 obsession and spazzy thought process, Haruka and I don't share much so I don't really count this fic as a 'Self-Insert' OC.


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